Rae Hoffman over at the Sugarrae blog has written a passionate, affiliate-related post titled How to Survive the Affiliate Evolution. Rae points out that over the next few years the affiliate business will change dramatically, and affiliates need to be looking at their business in a different way to survive.

Rae’s advice is targeted to the professional, mid-sized affiliate who is looking to take their business to the next level. She says that there should be no more of the “one person show” mindset - affiliates should look to build a business, with either a number of outsourced experts (designers, programmers, etc.) or actual employees. She also feels that the days of building one or two sites and being hugely successful are on their way out. Rae calls for affiliates to step up and build diversified, scalable businesses that are built around a product or vertical, and not just a particular vendor with a product.

I found the post to be interesting and her observations reflect the best practices I have been seeing in the industry for the last couple years. The biggest, most successful affiliates are diversified, scaled businesses who take advantage of opportunities in multiple verticals and who are not afraid to outsource or hire when necessary.

If you’re looking to grow your affiliate business and stay ahead of the curve, Rae’s post might help guide you in a productive direction, so give it a read.

[Hat tip to Stuntdubl for pointing out Rae's post]